Clothes-drier



J STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLOTH ES-DRIER.

SPECIFIGATIdN forming part of Letters Patent No. 490,843, dated January 31, 1893.

Application filed April 5, 1892.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES BROLOWSKA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Port Huron, in the county of St. Clair and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Olothes-Driers; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates, generally, to clothesdriers and, particularly, to improvements in the parts for supporting and operating the drying-frame and in the drying-frame, proper, and its attachments; and it consists in the peculiarities of construction and arrangement or combination of parts and features hereinafter fully disclosed in the description, claims and drawings.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide an improved clothes-drier in which vertical supporting-posts will be pivotally connected for permitting the drying-frame to be horizontallyturned to face the Wind from any direction, and in which said frame will be pivoted or hinged at its lower central portion, arranged at a slight inclination, or at an angle of about sixty degrees from said vertical supporting-posts, and connected with devices which will render it capable of being lowered and raised to and secured in any desired position for permitting clothes to be easily and quickly attached thereto, dried thereon and removed therefrom; second, to provide a novel and improved drying-frame, which will be simple, light and strong in construction, not liable to undue strain at any point, and which will be provided with a vane that will operate to turn and hold it in line with or facing the wind, whereby clothes can be dried uniformly and rapidly, and, third, to provide improved combinations of devices which will be accessorial to the attainment of these ends or results. These objects are accomplished by the improved construction and arrangement or combination of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts and features, and in which Figure 1 represents a rear, perspective view of my improved clothes-drier in normal or op- Serial No. 427,899. (No model.)

erative position,with some of the clothes-pins attached thereto; Fig. 2, a vertical section thereof; Fig. 3, a vertically-arranged detail view of one of the wire side bars; Fig. 4, a similar view of one of the stay-rods; Fig. 5, a similar view of one of the Wire clothes-lines, and, Fig. 6, a horizontal, detail, perspective view of one of the clothes-pins.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 indicates the vertical base post, which is .is firmly seated in the ground, or otherwise suitablysup'ported, projected upwardly a suitable distance and provided at its upper end with the metallic disk 2, which is formed with the central opening 3 for registering with the vertical socket 3 beneath. Upon this base post is mounted the vertical main post 4, which is provided at its lower end with the metallic disk 5 and, also, with the pivot 6, which projects down into the socket 3 to a sufficient extent for the disk 5 to rest or bear upon the lower disk 2. These pivotal connections between the posts permit the upper or main post to be turned freely and easily in all directions and still retain its perpendicularity.

Near the lower end of the main post 4, at the point 7, is pivoted or hinged the lower central portion of the drying-frame 8, which, when in operative position, is arranged at an inclination from the vertical base and main posts 1 and 4, the purpose of the thus inclining said frame being to accomplish the suspension of the clothes therefrom in such overlapped order that they will not touch or come into contact, whereby a large number of pieces or articles can be dried simultaneously and in small space. This drying-frame is also adapted to be lowered to, raised from and held in any desired position for attaching, drying and detaching clothes by the following devices.-A rope or wire cord, 9, extends from the upper portion of the rear side of said frame, passes up over the peripherallygrooved pulley 10, which is journaled in the support 11 upon the upper end of the main post 4, and extends thence down to and around the drum or reel 12, which is suitably journaled upon the rear side and near the lower end of said main post and held from accidental turning, in any position to which the frame may be raised or it may be revolved,

by the ratchet-wheel 13 and the pawl 14:. A guard-strap, 15, is secured to the support 11 and passed over the pulley 10 for the purpose of preventing the rope or wire cord 9 from escaping from the groove in the periphery thereof.

The inclined drying-frame 8 is preferably constructed in rectangular form, and is provided with the two side bars 16 and the centralbar 17, which extend longitudinally thereof, and with the stay-rods 18 and the clotheslines 19, which extend transversely thereof. These stay-rods and clothes-lines are, respectively, made of wood and small wire, while said side and central bars are made of heavy iron or steel w re and provided at suitablein tervals along their lengths with the large circles 20 and the small circles 21, which are respectively arranged upon the opposite or upper and lower sides thereof. ,In these circles are mounted the wooden stay-rods 18, the lower and upper ones of the series being respectively arranged in the circles at the bottoms and the tops of said wire bars; also, all of these stay-rods are formed or provided at short distances from their ends with the flanges 22 for holding the side bars 16 apart, or in parallel relation, and thus preventing them from being drawn inwardly or toward the center of the frame by the weight of the clothes upon the latter. In the small circles 21 of the side bars are secured the ends of the transverse, wire clothes-lines 19, which pass loosely through the corresponding or aligned circles in the central bar 17 and are formed at suitable intervals along their lengths, say at one foot apart, with the eyes or loops 23 for the clothes-pins 24.

Within the small circles 21 of the wire side bars 16, near their upper and at their lower ends and at and near their central portions, are secured the outer ends of the wire braces 25, which converge to a common point near the rear side and near the upper end of the drying-frame 8, where their inner ends are secured to the ring 26, to which is also secured the rope or wire cord 9 for lowering and raising said frame. These wire braces not only serve to steady or balance the dryingframe in lowering and raising the same, but to strengthen it and, also, prevent any undue strain upon any particular part thereof; also, the wire braces 27, which are secured to the ends of the lower stay-rod 18 of said frame and the sides of the lower end of the main post 4, not only assist in effecting these results, but in preventing any lateral movement of said frame. This latter result, when the drying-frame is in its normal or raised position is also contributed to by the stop-rod 28, which is rigidly secured at its front end to the middle portion of the central bar 17, from which it projects rearwardly or at right angles, so that its rear end will enter and rest in the recess 29 formed in the upper portion of the main post. This stop-rod is also rigidly supported near its outer or rear end by the inner ends of the wire braces 30, which are attached at their outer ends to the small circles 21, which are arranged at the lower ends of the wire side bars and above and below the middle portion of the wire central bar. As thus arranged and supported, this stop-rod will also arrest the drying-frame, while being raised, in its proper position for holding the clothes while being dried, or for preventing said frame from being drawn too near the vertical main-post.

An arrow-shaped vane, 31, is rigidly secured to the upper portion of the drying-frame, preferably to the vertical extension 32 of the central wire bar 17, and is arranged at right angles to the planeof said frame, whereby the action of the wind thereon-will turn or swing said frame horizontally and thus cause it to face the wind from whatever direction it may be blowing. It is obvious that this capability of movement of the frame is due to its being mounted upon the pivotally-supported main post, which can be easily revolved in any direction.

In connection with my improved clothesdrier I employ the clothes-pins 24:, which are especially adapted for use in connection with the wire clothes-lines 19 having the eyes or loops 2 3, and which can be easily and quickly applied thereto and removed therefrom and, also, operated to firmly hold or clamp and readily release the clothes attached thereto. Each of these clothes-pins is constructed of a single piece of wire, which is formed at its upper end with the downwardly and outwardly projecting prong 33, along its middle with the circular, elastic portion 34, with the downwardly-converging and elastic loop 35, communicating with the latter, and with the horizontally and forwardly projecting handle 36 at its lower end. One end of the wire is soldered to its body portion at the point 37, so as to retain the proper degree of elasticity in the circular portion 34 and the loop 35. As thus constructed these clothes-pins receive the corners or other small portions of the clothes within their circular, elastic portions 34, from which they are forced downwardly and into the gradually-converging loops 35, where, owing to the elasticity between the adjacent pieces of the wire, they are firmly held or clamped as long as desired, and from which they can be easily and quickly removed. The long prongs 33 of these pins can be easily placed in and removed from the eyes or loops 23 of the wire clothes-lines 19 by properly manipulating the handles 36, which may be also used for holding said pins while the clothes are being withdrawn therefrom; also the long prongs of said pins can be readily adjusted or changed to different loops along said clothes-lines, so as to accord in position with the sizes or lengths of the articles to be dried.

Having thus fully described the construc- IIO tion and arrangement or combination of the several parts of my invention, its advantages and operation, what I claim as new is 1. In a clothes-drier, the combination,with the vertical and pivotally-connected base and main posts, of an inclined dryingframe hinged to said main post and suitable devices for lowering and raising said frame to and holding the same in various positions, substantially as described.

2. In a clothes-drier, a drying-frame provided with longitudinally-extending side and central bars, made of wire and formed with large and small circles upon their upper and lower sides, with transversely extending, wooden stay-rods having flanges near their ends and with transversely-extendin g clotheslines, said rods and lines being respectively mounted and secured at their ends within the large and small circles in said side-bars, substantially as described.

3. In a clothes-drier, an inclined and hinged drying-frame provided with longitudinallyextending side and central bars, with transversely-extending stay-rods and clothes lines, with wire braces secured at their outer ends to said side and central bars and with a ring 7 to which the inner ends of said braces are therewith, and devices for lowering and raising said frame to and holding the same in various positions substantially as described.

6. In a clothes-drier, the combination, with a vertical post formed with a recess in its upperportion, of aninclined drying-frame hinged thereto and provided with a rearwardly-projecting stop-rod having its rear end normallyigo fitting within said recess, and devices for lowering, raising and holding said frame, substantially as described.

7. In aclothes-drier, the combination, with a vertical post formed with a recess in its upper portion,ofan inclineddrying-framehinged thereto and provided with a rearwardly-projecting stop-rod having its rear end normally fitting within said recess, and with wire braces attached at their inner ends to said stop-rod and at their outer ends to different points of said frame, and devices for lowering, raising and holding said frame, substantially as described.

8. In a clothes-drier, the combination,with a vertical and pivoted post, of an inclined drying-frame secured thereto and provided at its upper portion with a rigidly-secured vane, substantially as described.

9. In a clothes-drier, the combination, with a vertical and pivoted post, of an inclined and hinged drying-frame provided with two side bars and a central bar, the latter having a vertical extension at its upper end, and with an arrow-shaped vane rigidly secured to said extension, and means for lowering, raising and holding said frame, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in pf'esence of two witnesses.

CHARLES BROLOWSKA. Witnesses:

THOS. WELLMAN, WM. H. CARSON. 

